Korea has its own cuisine, quite different from Chinese or Japanese. Rice is the staple food and a typical Korean meal consists of rice, soup, rice water and 8-20 side dishes of vegetables, fish, poultry, eggs, bean curd and sea plants. Most Korean soups and side dishes are heavily laced with red pepper. Dishes include kimchi (Korean national dish, highly spiced pickle of Chinese cabbage or white radish with turnips, onions, salt, fish, chestnuts and red pepper), soups (based on beef, pork, oxta